Valérien Ismaël: Blackburn Rovers Head Coach

[RevidgeBlue]

3 minutes ago, rigger said:

Instead of giving Mark Hughes a honor cap on Tuesday, offer him the managers job.

Interesting.....it's weird how he's prepared to go down the Leagues as far as Carlisle to stay in the game.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Tomphil2 said:

They knew he wasn't up to much when they brought him in but he'll be cheaper than a lot of others. He'll have the right connections and he's their man - Shadow man and tea boy - so the crafty dossers have ring fenced him with a 3 year plus contract.

India phones up after seeing the results and league position at their 6 monthly meeting when Rovers crops up ...'This is not good enough we are not happy perhaps you should change the Head Coach...'

'Ok boss but performances are good, players and fans love him and we believe a winning steak is around the corner. Oh and it will cost 1.5 million to remove him'

'Ok stick with him whatever happens we aren't paying that, speak again summer, bye'.

He'll be the only recognisable name who was prepared to work under the conditions of selling the higher earners and bringing in cheap imports from the lower reaches of European Leagues.

End of.

As such I have zero sympathy for him, no-one could have realistically expected that to work so he is 100 % complicit.

Neither as Arbitro said does he seem to be the sort of manager who can get a tune out of an ordinary group of players which is greater than the sum of its parts.

[Tomphil2]

8 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

He'll be the only recognisable name who was prepared to work under the conditions of selling the higher earners and bringing in cheap imports from the lower reaches of European Leagues.

End of.

As such I have zero sympathy for him, no-one could have realistically expected that to work so he is 100 % complicit.

Neither as Arbitro said does he seem to be the sort of manager who can get a tune out of an ordinary group of players which is greater than the sum of its parts.

There are always others no scrap heap bog standard head coach is turning down hundred of thousands per year when they are sat doing nowt.

Yes he'll have agreed to all that was in the pipeline in return for a nice secure contract so he has to take as much responsibility as everyone else.

99% certain he's here because he was already a pal of Gestede and sings from the same hymn sheet in terms of the low budget revolution they are trying to implement.

He was their choice and he'll have arrived through the usual channels.

[roversfan99]

45 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Too right.

Thought April's fools day was as the name suggests -i n April.

Most of the time Mowbray could barely keep us bobbing along in lower mid table with a better squad and much better budget than we have now. 

What we really need is someone who is reasonably adept at making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Someone like John Eustace perhaps. Oooo....... errr .......hang on.

 

Would you prefer Ismael or Mowbray if you had to choose?

[RevidgeBlue]

3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Would you prefer Ismael or Mowbray if you had to choose?

What a question that is, for me thats like asking would you prefer Ismael, Mowbray or Coyle? I couldnt express a preference for any one of them. My answer would be "None of them".

For context, Id rather have Gary Bowyer back than Ismael (at least I like GB) but I dont think he's good enough either.

[DE.]

Completely different situation here now, compared to when Mowbray was last here. He had a lot of sway over various areas of the club at ground level last time. Now that Pasha and Gestede are at the wheel, steering us off a cliff, he'd have far less autonomy to do what he felt was necessary. I'm not sure any manager can make a success out of this with those two at the helm. 

Edited 1 hour ago by DE.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 minute ago, DE. said:

 I'm not sure any manager can make a success out of this with those two at the helm. 

Depends on your definition of "success". Im not sure any manager could get this group in the top 6 but there are probably loads around who could keep our noses above water as opposed to sinking us in record quick time as Ismael seems on course to do.

[BRFC.]

Watching the Ismael interview and the guy interviewing says “lots of positives to take” being in the bottom 3 there’s no “positives” the mentality in this club stinks, it’s like we are happy to be here and like we’re a national league club.

[RevidgeBlue]

9 minutes ago, BRFC. said:

Watching the Ismael interview and the guy interviewing says “lots of positives to take” being in the bottom 3 there’s no “positives” the mentality in this club stinks, it’s like we are happy to be here and like we’re a national league club.

Bit like on Saturday. One of the 2 Rovers commentators said "If we win our 2 home games this week we'll be flying up the League".

Like that's going to happen when we're nearly in November and havent even won a home game yet. Let alone two.

The level of delusion surrounding the Club is breathtaking.

[roversfan99]

33 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What a question that is, for me thats like asking would you prefer Ismael, Mowbray or Coyle? I couldnt express a preference for any one of them. My answer would be "None of them".

For context, Id rather have Gary Bowyer back than Ismael (at least I like GB) but I dont think he's good enough either.

Mowbray wouldnt belong in the company of those 2. Or Bowyer.

Not that he would be someone we should be re-apppointing either, to be clear.

[RevidgeBlue]

I a

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Mowbray wouldnt belong in the company of those 2. Or Bowyer.

Not that he would be someone we should be re-apppointing either, to be clear.

I acknowledge most people don't detest Mowbray as much as I do. Whilst I think he's a poor manager my dislike of him mainly comes from the fact that imo he was only here to chug along for a few years feathering his own nest.

In the days when the owners still retained a bit of enthusiasm to succeed Mowbray wasn't interested. Years ago we all suspected the owners would give up the ghost eventually and predictably now, we are where we are, and for me Mowbray wasted the last realistic chance we had of doing anything under this regime.

Don't expect you'll agree so Im not going to go back and forward on it.

[BRFC.]

“Couple of weeks” 😃

[DE.]

42 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Depends on your definition of "success". Im not sure any manager could get this group in the top 6 but there are probably loads around who could keep our noses above water as opposed to sinking us in record quick time as Ismael seems on course to do.

I wouldn't be so sure if the January window is as reprehensible as the summer one. 

[Rogerb]

5 minutes ago, BRFC. said:

“Couple of weeks” 😃

Preparing the ground for a January sale.

[dallydally]

8 minutes ago, BRFC. said:

“Couple of weeks” 😃

Hahahaha!

[StHelensRover]

29 minutes ago, BRFC. said:

“Couple of weeks” 😃

Maybe Baradji will end up taking his place in the team at this rate 🤔

[GHR]

57 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Bit like on Saturday. One of the 2 Rovers commentators said "If we win our 2 home games this week we'll be flying up the League".

Like that's going to happen when we're nearly in November and havent even won a home game yet. Let alone two.

The level of delusion surrounding the Club is breathtaking.

The commentary two have never been one for rocking the boat. I remember one of the Covid-era Mowbray seasons as we slumped to another insipid home defeat they were still preaching hope for the play offs despite us being about ten points off with five games to play. Back in the days of (legit) club video streaming before the current TV deal it was very easy to mute, these days as an audio only service that is rather more difficult!

[rigger]

24 minutes ago, StHelensRover said:

Maybe Baradji will end up taking his place in the team at this rate 🤔

Baradji could well be said to be Cantwells replacement. If he is fit by January ?

[Waggy76]

1 hour ago, StHelensRover said:

Maybe Baradji will end up taking his place in the team at this rate 🤔

Either that or Baradji will be sold after BRFC got him fit in January ! 

[AAK]

2 hours ago, DE. said:

Completely different situation here now, compared to when Mowbray was last here. He had a lot of sway over various areas of the club at ground level past time. Now that Pasha and Gestede are at the wheel, steering us off a cliff, he'd have far less autonomy to do what he felt was necessary. I'm not sure any manager can make a success out of this with those two at the helm. 

Mowbray was backed more than any other rover manager under venkys, he licked their ass (well statistically kean was probably more backed, but that was just a ridiculous attempt from Venkys at the time).

[London blue]

1 hour ago, GHR said:

The commentary two have never been one for rocking the boat. I remember one of the Covid-era Mowbray seasons as we slumped to another insipid home defeat they were still preaching hope for the play offs despite us being about ten points off with five games to play. Back in the days of (legit) club video streaming before the current TV deal it was very easy to mute, these days as an audio only service that is rather more difficult!

I can't stand them, to be honest. They peddle platitudes and clichés like they're going out of fashion.

What game was it after Rovers banned the LT? I watched that and while it's unsurprising, they paid no heed to it whatsoever.

[roversfan99]

The idea that Venkys were full of enthusiasm and Mowbray stopped them in their tracks really is a bit of a stretch based on the admittance that Mowbray didnt kick up a fuss for more money once budgets had been agreed.

I doubt that most managers have actively asked Venkys for more money. Mowbray is just the one who said it publically.

They had that one season where they invested £10m on what was a squad that had been decimated in the lead up to relegation. The problem is, the fact that they are obligated to cover losses each year (bar the freak Wharton sale) is for some reason confused by some as them pumping money in as if its to better the team. Why anyone would try and spin it to make them seem like the good guys is anyones guess.

[Tomphil2]

To be straight though he did say after promotion he'd talked them out of going for a double promotion and chucking money in because he advised steady investment to avoid boom and bust.

That can be judged one of two ways, sensible or lacking ambition and willingness to stick ones own neck on the block.

Probably a combination of both in truth.

[JHRover]

And of course whatever the reality of it things were back-to-front. 

It isn't the manager's job to 'advise' the owners on whether to 'go for it' or not. They should have made a decision on what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go and then if Mowbray was uncomfortable with that he should have been replaced. 

That is what happens at just about every other club in the world - owners decide what they want and then attempt to get it whilst making changes along the way to help them get there.

Here just an utterly ridiculous backward situation where it seems the interest was all on the part of the manager who managed to get out there and prick a bit of interest on the part of the legal owners and was the one setting the pace and deciding on the form.

They were never really interested, just had a brief spell of a couple of years where they liked what Mowbray was saying and thought they'd roll with his plans and see where it ended up. This is all because he, Bowyer and Kean managed to get out to sit around a table with them and persuade them to support them. To them it is all about backing 'their man' and not letting 'their man' down - and by extension that means sackings or performance/result based decisions are off the table - job's theirs as long as they want it. 

More important to them that they have 'their man' running the show than it is the football club progressing, improving, building, growing. That's never been a factor worthy of their consideration. 

He presumably told them that 3-4 years of solid support would either lead to promotion or worst case a valuable squad. So by the end of it, after plugging 3-4 years of losses and losing faith in mid-table finishes every year they pull up the drawbridge, disappear again, cut communication and impose more significant cost cuts just like they did when they got bored with Bowyer's approach and dismantled his squad. 

This isn't going to change now until or unless we find ourselves a competent manager who is willing and able to get out to India and talk them into a different approach. That isn't going to happen because we've got communication lines well and truly cut, a couple of stooges enjoying themselves and running the place as their own kingdom and there aren't many competent managers out there willing to play that sort of game. Bowyer was because he was a rookie and Mowbray was because he was on the scrapheap and content to plod for a good few years. Most - Lambert, JDT, Eustace - would tell them to 'do one' and secure more lucrative and easier working conditions elsewhere.

Edited 42 minutes ago by JHRover

[roversfan99]

Absolutely, the main point is that for some reason, too much of the blame is diverted away from the issue in an illogical way. Its not down to Mowbray or indeed any other manager or director of football to demand more money, or to calm people down. His willingness to fly over and see them probably was the reason we even got what we did.

Although they have plugged losses every year, that should never be confused with ambition or willingness to succeed. Losses are par for the course in the Championship, barring very occasional sales as we saw with Wharton. Offsetting those losses is something all owners have to do.

There has been ONE summer where they have put up a decent amount of money. That was upon promotion and followed numerous summers of either minimal spend and/or considerable sales. Aside from that, our summers have occasionally been small net spends (the biggest being £4m for Tomasson), no spending or considerable profits made.

The idea that the owners would have otherwise had numerous seasons of ambition led spending has grown legs over time and its unnecessarily letting the owners have blame deflected away from them into the wrong places.